


Little Toy Soldier

by Fearlesskiki



Series: Christmas Shortbreads [3]
Category: Football RPF, Real Person Fiction
Genre: Alternate Universe, Boys can be mean sometimes, Brotherhood, Christmas, Fantasy, Gen, Marco is a kick ass toy, Mario is always crying, Sorry I don't mean to make people sad for Christmas, Toys, Toys are silly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-03
Updated: 2016-01-03
Packaged: 2018-05-04 20:39:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5347799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fearlesskiki/pseuds/Fearlesskiki
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mario wishes upon the shooting star that toys will come alive. And his wish comes true.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A New Toy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ArkanianP](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArkanianP/gifts).



> Because she's the 1st few people that supported my works and she always give very nice comments :)
> 
> This one is very much inspired by The Nutcracker. I love the concept of toys coming alive so I hope it will work :D 
> 
> Mario Götze - A lonely young boy  
> Marco Reus/Woody - A wooden toy soldier  
> 

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mario receives a new toy and it quickly becomes his favourite.

"This is for you, Mario." an old man says to a young boy. He hands a handmade wooden toy soldier to the child. It is a British soldier with a tall black hat, shiny red white suit and black pants. It is carefully handcrafted in detail, with every spot painted and varnished in bright colours. The soldier carries a long gun with its left hand and has a very cheeky smile on its face.

 

"Wow! Dankeschön[1], Opa[2]!" Mario exclaims in joy when he receives the toy soldier from his grandpa. He jumps up and down upon receiving the toy soldier, looks at it in awe.

 

"Shh... don't tell mama about it. I'm not supposed to give it to you until Christmas day." the old man whispers. Mario looks at his grandpa and nods in agreement. He grins foolishly and skips his way to a corner of the toy shop. His grandpa gazes at him and laughs hysterically before heading back to work. The young boy places the toy soldier with the other toys that are also made by his grandpa. Little Mario has all the toys in the world as his grandpa is a famous toymaker in town. Trains, cars, robot, soldier, aeroplane, construction toys, yoyo... Name anything and Opa Götze could make one for him. 

 

"Mmm... What shall I call you? Johnny? Kenny? Max? Woody? Okay! I shall call you Woody! Woody, do you like you name?" Mario says to the toy soldier. He shakes the toy, making it acknowledges its new name. Then, Mario starts to create stories and conversations between the toy soldier and the other toys. 

 

"Dum Dee Dum Dee Dum..."

 

"Hello! My name is Woody. I'm new in this town. Nice to meet you."

 

"Hello, Woody! Nice to meet you too. My name is Wonky the Donkey. I have a great feeling that we will be best friends. Let me show you around."

 

Mario is having fun all by himself until the doorbell interrupts his roleplay game. The little boy turns his head to check out the source. There are two older boys walking into the shop. They dress in black T-shirt and torn jeans. One of them is wearing a cap in reverse. Mario recognises the boys. The one with the spiky hair is Bastian Schweinsteiger and the one with the cap is Lukas Podolski. They go to the same school as Mario, but Mario is 3 years younger than the boys. Bastian and Lukas are well-known troublemakers in school. They often bully other students in school. And having them loitering in the shop could not be a good sign.

 

And Mario's instincts turns out to be correct. Bastian and Lukas look around the toy shop with some suspicious looks. As soon as Mario's grandpa walks to the store room, Bastian picks up some action figurines and rejects them by throwing them to the floor. His buddy Lukas picks a toy car and tries to rip it apart. 

 

"No! Stop it!" Mario shouts at them. But the older boys ignore him. Mario runs to Lukas' direction and grabs the toy to prevent the older boy from damaging it. Lukas refuses to let go and pulls the toy car away from Mario. Lukas is much stronger than Mario so he manages to snatch the toy car from Mario's hand. The older boy raises the toy car above his head and sticks his tongue out to further annoy Mario. Mario tries to reach the toy car by jumping. But no matter how hard he tries, he could not reach it because he is too short.

 

Bastian stops throwing toys and laughs at Mario. He glances to the corner of the shop and a toy soldier caught his eye. He smirks to the toy soldier. The 10-year-old goes to the corner of the shop and grabs the toy soldier. Mario screams and he frantically runs to the same area in order to get back his toy soldier. Bastian pushes him to the ground and rips the toy soldier's left leg. Both Lukas and Bastian laugh at their mischevious act.

 

"Hey, what are you boys doing?" Mario's grandpa yelled from behind. Bastian and Lukas quickly drop the toys to the ground and run away as soon as they heard Opa Götze's voice. When the old man reaches the scene, the boys have already left the toy shop. He turns to his grandchild. The little boy sits on the wooden floor crying while holding his broken toy soldier. The leg of the toy soldier has been dislocated and the edge of its hat is chipped. 

 

"There, there, don't cry, my little child. Grandpa will fix it for you, don't worry," said the toymaker. He brushes the child's head to comfort the little boy. Mario looks at his grandpa, but tears still continue to roll down his chubby cheeks. The toymaker takes the pieces of the toy soldier from his grandchild, goes to his workshop and begins to repair the toy. A couple of hours later, he presents the toy soldier back to the little boy. The leg has been fixed to its body. The chipped parts have been smoothened. It looks like a brand new toy. Mario regains his smile when he receives his toy soldier.

 

Mario takes Woody to the corner of the shop. He makes some conversation with the toy soldier. But after a while, he became bored. The young boy often finds himself lonely. Mario is the only child to his parents. He couldn't understand why the grownups are always busy. They rarely get to play with him. The little boy often pleads for attention, but they often brush him off by giving him toys or candies. It would have been easier if he has siblings. All his life, he never had brothers to play toy guns with or sisters to tell secrets with. The boys in his neighbourhood don't like to play with Mario. They are older and bigger than Mario and they feel the little boy would be a hindrance especially when playing football. Mario wanted pets too, but his parents don't allow him to have one. The only thing he has is his toys. Sure, some of them do move, but none of them are alive. None of them could speak to him, and none of them have a heart or soul. 

 

Sometimes Mario finds it tiring of playing the toys all by himself. He knows it was only him making up conversations with himself all along. He glances to his grandpa, who is still making new toys. He looks back at his toys and sighs.

 

If only toys are alive.

 

He grabs Woody and walks upstairs to his room. The little boy stops at his window sill and looks upon the sky full of stars. It is a very peaceful night. He could hear the crickets sounds from his room. When a shooting star flies across Mario's sight, he clasps his hands and wishes upon the star. The young boy wishes that his toys could come alive one day. He then lets out a yawn. The young boy looks at the clock. It is already 10.05pm, which is already past his bedtime. No wonder he feels sleepy. Mario switches off the main light and leaves the night light on. He climbs to his comfy bed with his toy soldier by his side and falls asleep after a few minutes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [1] Dankeschön - Thank you very much in German  
> [2] Opa - Grandpa in German


	2. Woody

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Woody comes alive.

"Dong... Dong... Dong..."

 

Mario's sleep is interrupted by the chimes of the grandfather clock. He tosses and turns himself in his bed, hoping that the sound will go away. Normally he wouldn't be able to hear the clock chime sounds from his room but today he could hear it loud and clear. He wakes up with a drowsy feeling, wondering why the grandfather clock from the living room is acting crazy. He then realises he is in a foreign place. He feels that the floor is extremely mushy. The little boy rubs his eyes and looks towards the direction of the night light. The light has the same football pattern as the night light that Mario has. But this one is much bigger than the one he has. It is almost the same size as the young boy. He looks around his surroundings and everything seems to be gigantic. The wooden chair, wooden table, pencils, cupboard, pillow... everything looks like his room but it is 10 times bigger. Soon, he realises the floor isn't really a floor. It is his bed sheets. The foreign place isn't foreign at all. It is his own room all along. 

 

"Moin! Moin!"

 

There is a voice coming from behind. Mario is shocked by the voice. He turns around and sees a tall and thin soldier limping his way towards the little boy. When the soldier reaches Mario, he continues, "Can you do me a favour? Can you help me to push my left thigh?"

 

Mario narrows his eyebrows, tilts his head while looking at the familiar handsome soldier. The soldier points his thigh to signal Mario, so the little boy did as he told. He pushes the soldier's left thigh as hard as he could until there is a 'click' sound. The little boy then asks, "Woody? Is it you?"

 

"Yes, it's me." he answered.

 

"You can talk?" the little boy asked.

 

"Haha... All toys could talk after midnight," said the toy soldier with a grin. 

 

"Did I became a toy too?" Mario asked. He lowers his head, looks left and right of his body to check if he has become a wooden toy. 

 

"Nah, you're still a boy. Kids shrink into toy size at night. But they are always asleep at this hour so they wouldn't know." the soldier replied. "By the way, please call me Marco."

 

"Marco? But I named you Woody!" the puzzled Mario said. He looks at his toy soldier. Mario has always imagined about his toys come to life. He has his own idea of the toys' behaviour. But Woody is not what he has expected at all. He speaks with a German accent instead of a British accent, he wants to be called a different name and his voice is thinner than Mario imagined him.

 

"I need a proper name. Woody just sounds... silly." Marco replied.

 

"But you're a toy!" the little boy said.

 

"Yes, I'm a toy. But that doesn't mean I can't have my own opinions." Marco said with a lopsided smile. He looks at Mario from top to bottom for a couple of times and starts to burst out a laughter. He tries to stop himself from laughing by covering his mouth, but the laughter just couldn't stop.

 

"What's so funny?" Mario asked as he cringes his eyebrows. 

 

Marco tries his best to stop laughing and he wipes the tears with his hand. He then says, "It's funny that you're now shorter than me."

 

"Hmph... That's not funny." Mario replied. He closes his eyes, crosses his arms and flatten his lips. 

 

Marco chuckles to the angry Mario. He tilts his head to see how long Mario could stay angry. He then removes his tall hat and puts it on the little boy. "There. Now we're even." 

 

Mario opens his eyes when he feels an object on his head. He glances above and sees a top hat on his head. He smiles as he feels taller after wearing the tall hat.

 

"Oh shoot! I'm late! Talk to you later!" said Marco. He pats Mario's head and begins to run. Mario begins to feel panic as soon as Marco leaves.

 

"Wait! Marco! Where are you going? Don't leave me!" Mario shouted with a terrified voice. It is already a scary situation to be 10 times smaller than his usual size, and the last thing he wanted is to be alone in the dark.

 

"To the Christmas party at the living room! You wanna come?" said Marco after he stops running. He signals Mario to come over. Mario quickly runs to the toy soldier's direction. He pants hard when he reaches Marco.

 

"We need to go down first." said Marco.

 

The little boy glances to the ground and gasps. The ground looks intimidating. It feels like standing on a mountain cliff and he might fall off anytime soon.

 

"It's so high! How do we go down?" he asked.

 

"Watch me," Marco replied.

 

Marco turns his body facing back and grabs a part of the bed sheet. He slowly slides his hands with the bed sheets until he reaches the floor. The little soldier then grabs the end of the bed sheet and pulls it as far as possible, making it look like a tent. He looks up to Mario and signals the little boy. "Come on!"

 

"I'm- I'm scared!" Mario stuttered. His legs are trembling and he could feel himself shaking.

 

"Don't worry, I'll catch you! Trust me!" Marco yelled from below. Mario is afraid of the height, but he is even more afraid to be alone. He shuts his eyes tight and positions himself to sit on the bed sheet. The little boy pushes himself slightly and starts to slide down. He screams the whole ride and ends up landing on Marco's chest, resulting the toy soldier fall backwards.

 

"Ouch!" Marco shouted.

 

Mario opens his eyes and relief to see Marco. He flashes a silly smile to the toy soldier. Marco narrows his eyes to the boy as he isn't pleased to have the boy on top of him. After Mario gets up, he too stands up and adjusts his attire. He looks around the room and asks Mario, "Do you have a car or something?"

 

"I have a toy plane," Mario answered as he points his finger to a vintage toy aeroplane at the corner of his room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [1] Moin - 'Hello' in German
> 
> This chapter is supposed to be longer but I want to keep some suspense *laughs* so we will start the adventure on the next chapter!


	3. A Secret Party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mario discovers the world of toys

Mario and Marco hop on to the vintage toy aeroplane without any delay. Mario still couldn't believe that his wooden toy is actually alive and talking to him. He hopes that this isn't just a dream. The young boy gives a pinch to himself to ensure that. It does hurt, so it must be real. He watches Marco putting on the goggles and helmet as if the toy soldier has done it plenty of times.

 

"Mario put on your seatbelts." the soldier instructed. Mario nods.

 

"Marco, you can drive aeroplanes?" the young boy asked while putting on his seat belt.

 

"Of course! A soldier needs to have a few surviving skills, you know," he replied with a wink. The toy soldier flicks a few switches and pushes a couple of buttons before taking off. The movement shocked Mario for a moment as he isn't expecting it. Mario feels a little anxious as it is the first time the young boy rides a plane. It didn't help when Marco drives it rather fast. But it doesn't take long for Mario to get used to it. He actually enjoys the rest of the journey. When the aeroplane passes by the cloud wallpapers, it does feel like they are flying above the sky.

 

The little boy guides to Marco the way to the living room. When they reach the living room, Mario could hear loud noises of joy and excitement. The candles begin to light by themselves, bells are ringing, and the angel ornaments on the Christmas tree start to sing 'Silent Night' as a choir. Mario looks around the room in awe. The living room has turned into a magical paradise. Toy animals and dolls running around with happy faces, toy cars are running around the room unsystematically and the lights blinking slowly in different colours. Mario has been to parties and Christmas markets but those events are nothing like this. 

 

"Come on, Mario! The train has arrived!" said Marco as he points to the toy train. Mario quickly follows his toy soldier towards the train. Both of them runs as fast as they could to catch the train. Marco is the first one to reach the train. He grips one of the railings and slowly climbs into the cabin. He looks back to check on Mario and the little boy is still chasing the train.

 

"Marco!" the little boy cried while running, fearing of his toy soldier would leave him. He isn't fast enough to reach the train.

 

"Give me your hand!" said the toy soldier. He stretches out his hand for Mario. The little boy runs as fast as he could and stretches his hand. As soon as Marco is able to grip Mario's hand, the toy soldier pulls him up to the train cabin. After a few minutes, the train stops at the station. Both Marco and Mario gets off the train and starts to explore the surroundings. A jack-in-a-box pops out and waves to them, welcoming them to the party. Balloons are released to the air and snow starts to fall.

 

"Look, Marco! Horses!" Mario exclaimed when he sees a carousel. It is the first thing that caught his eyes when he steps the ground. Mario's eyes sparkle when he tugs Marco's arm and points to the carousel. Marco chuckles and nods to him. Both of them run to the carousel and hop on to a horse each. They ride and ride the carousel until they feel dizzy. After that, they go to the dollhouse to change different costumes and laugh like idiots. They also enjoy watching the toy parade marching around the room. Marching bands, soldiers, big balloons, horses, ballet dancers and vintage cars marching in a systematic order. There is also a special singing performance from Anna the doll.

 

After the parade, Mario wanders around the living room. He grabs a piece of cake made out of playdoh, wanting to eat it but Marco immediately stops him. He wanders around again when Marco is talking to Huhu the Chimpanzee. He gasps when he spots a rat munching some cookies under the Christmas tree. Mario asked his mum to prepare the cookies for Santa Claus and he wants Santa to eat them. The young boy quickly runs to the rat's direction to stop the rodent from eating the cookies.

 

"No! You can't eat that! That is for Santa!" Mario yelled. He snatches one of the cookies and it angers the rat. The rat let out an angry squeal and looks at Mario with a deadly stare. Mario screams. He runs away and hides behind the presents. His scream alerts Marco. The toy soldier turns around and notices his owner is in danger.

 

"MARIO!"

 

The toy soldier sprints towards the area and whacks the rat with his toy gun. After a few whacks, Marco manages to scare the rat away. He goes behind the presents to check on Mario. The poor little boy curls himself into a ball and is shaking. He still hasn't calmed down from the incident. The toy soldier hugs and pats the little boy's back to soothe him.

 

"Marco? Is that you?" A voice came from behind. Marco turns his head and it was Bella the bear. The teddy bear smiles to him. She bends down and hugs both Marco and Mario tightly until Mario feels suffocated. The little boy coughs a few times after he is released from the hug. The teddy bear tilts its head when she sees Mario.

 

"Wait, is that our owner?" she asked.

 

"Yeah," Marco replied.

 

A number of toys gasp when they realise a human is in their party. Some of the toys look horrified and some start to whisper among each other.

 

"But he's a human. You know humans aren't allowed to know our secret. It's against the rule." Bella said. She is referring to the secret of toys come to life during the night. No humans should know about the secret of the toys, and every toy knows that. Marco lowers his head and frowns. He knows that he isn't supposed to bring Mario to the party. Mario looks left and right, back and forth. He is clueless about his happenings. He couldn't understand what the toys meant.


	4. The Consequence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marco and Mario broke the rules and have to face the consequences

"You brought a human to the toy party? Are you mad?" said Wonky the donkey with a resentful tone. The other toys weren't pleased to know that Marco brought a human to the party too. They stare, boo and throw harsh words to Marco. Marco just stood there quietly and let the toys throw rage at him. Mario looks at the crowd and Marco back and forth, but the young boy couldn't understand why everyone is angry with his toy soldier and why can't humans attend the toys' party. He grips the toy soldier's arm for some comfort. The other toys are bickering on how to resolve the issue. 

 

"We must tell the king about this!" one of the toys said. The other toys agree with him. They hold Marco and Mario under the Christmas tree, making sure they couldn't get away before the king arrives. A plush toy lion with a crown arrives at the scene after a couple of minutes with an unimpressed expression. He gives a cold stare at Mario. 

 

"Lock that kid!" the king ordered. A number of toy soldiers come forward to capture Mario. Mario hides behind Marco. Marco grabs his gun and points it to the crowd. He shouts, "Stop! Or I'll shoot!"

 

The soldiers stop and the crowd is shocked by Marco's action. Everyone put their eyes on Marco, but no one dares to move a muscle. The king stares at Marco and says, "How dare you betray us, Marco? You broke the toys' rule and now you're helping a human? Guards, lock them together with the other two humans!"

 

When the guards start to catch Marco and his owner, the toy soldier positions his long gun to a balloon and fires a gun. He uses the bursting sound to create a distraction to the other toys and it worked tremendously. The balloon burst sound shocks the other toys, making them panic. The toys scream and run around with anxiety. Mario uses the opportunity to run with Mario. They run to a couch and hide behind it. At the same time, Marco makes sure that no one notices them. The toy soldier keeps on checking the surroundings to find an escape opportunity. At the midst of the escape, Mario could hear some whimper sounds nearby. He looks around and spots a red toy circus cage wagon and a Jack-in-the-box beside it. There are also two armies guarding it. Inside the wagon, there are two boys. Mario is shocked when he recognises those boys. They are Bastian and Lukas. Mario's could feel that his heart wrenches when he sees the older boys crying for help.

 

"Mario, when I say 'go', run to the plane as fast as you can," Marco whispered to him.

 

"Marco, what are they going to do with Bastian and Lukas?" the young boy asked.

 

"What?" Marco puzzled to Mario's question.

 

"Bastian and Lukas are locked inside there. What will the toys do to them? Will the toys kill them?" Mario asked. He points his finger to the cage.

 

"I don't know. It's up to the king's decision." Marco replied.

 

"Marco, we have to save them!" Mario said, tugging the toy soldier's arm.

 

"No, we can't. It's too dangerous. And besides, why do you want to save them? They are bullies." said Marco.

 

"Grandpa always teach me to forgive people. And I think they learned their lesson. Marco, please save them! Please?" the young boy plead to his toy soldier.

 

Marco lets out a huge sigh. He doesn't want to go back as it is a huge risk to save the two boys. Mario and he could get caught again and they would face bigger consequences. But Mario told him that he wouldn't leave without Bastian and Lukas. For Marco, it isn't much about himself as he doesn't have much to lose. He is worried for Mario. He doesn't want Mario to get into trouble again. Knowing that the king holds a grudge towards humans, Mario could be in real danger if they get caught again. But Marco couldn't dare to break the little boy's heart. He just had to do his best to help his owner this time, even if it costs his life.

 

Marco looks at the surrounding area and comes out a plan. He will fight the guards while Mario will take the key to free the older boys. He goes to the other side of the couch and fires a gun to one of the armies. The wooden bullet knocks the army unconscious. The shot alerts the other army. The 2nd army tries to search the source. The shot also frightens the Jack-in-the-box. The toy squeals when he sees the army unconscious. Marco aims and shoots the 2nd army and then the Jack-in-the-box. But Marco didn't realise the squeal had alarmed the nearby toys. The toy soldier and his owner rush to the cage. Mario grabs the keys and tries to unlock the lock. But he is struggling to poke the key into the lock as he is too nervous. When he finally manages to open the cage, there are already a number of toys surrounding them. The toys capture the kids and Marco. The king walks slowly towards them with a furious expression.

 

"Lock them up!" the king ordered.

 

"Let Mario go! He's innocent! I'm the one who brought him here!" Marco shouted.

 

"You foolish toy! Why are you helping the humans? Human kids will not love us forever. They will get new toys. They will grow up. If you're lucky, they will toss us to aside to collect dust. But the rest of us will end up in the dustbin or sold to garage sales."

 

"I'm sorry, Leo! I'm sorry! Please forgive me! I'm sorry!" Bastian pleads to the toy lion. The lion rolls his eyes when he sees a pathetic looking Bastian.

 

"He's different! I know he won't." Marco said.

 

"Hpm... you are still a new toy. You have no idea how hard our lives are." the lion growled.

 

"I'm sorry to interrupt, Your Majesty. You must remember that a human saved your life too. Mario's grandpa saved you from the garbage dump. He cleaned you and fixed your eye. You owe him that." An owl interrupted the king. He continues, "Yes. Bastian did abandoned you and injured a few of us. But you have locked the two kids for a couple of hours. Don't you think that's enough?" 

 

The owl is right. Mario's grandpa did save him from the dumpster and took care of him. And Mario does play with him sometimes. The lion king takes a while to think about the matter. The kids and the toys anxiously wait for the king's verdict. Mario hugs Marco for comfort. He closes his eyes and prays the king would let them go. Finally, the king opens his mouth. "Okay, you all are free to go."

 

Bastian and Lukas thank the toy lion and quickly leaves the living room. Mario exclaims with joy, he jumps up and down with excitement. He looks at Marco, but his toy soldier only manages to smile a little. He isn't as excited as the young boy. Mario tries to pull Marco to the plane, but his toy soldier is reluctant to move. He tilts his head as the boy is puzzled by the toy soldier. Marco looks at the time, it is almost 4 am. The soldier gives a little smile to his owner and pulls him into a hug.

 

"Goodbye, Mario. Thank you for everything. Promise me not to cry, okay?" Marco said.

 

"Huh? Why? Marco, what is happening?" Mario asked. The little boy is clueless about the situation, but he has an uneasy feeling about it. He shakes his toy soldier, but the toy soldier doesn't respond. He could see his toy soldier slowly disappear from him. The young boy freaks out by it.

 

"MARCO! MARCO!" the little boy shouted.

 

"A toy cannot let a human sees its true identity. Once they have been seen, the toys could only live until the end of the wee hours for that day. After that, it will not come alive again. Marco has broken the rules. Once a toy chooses to reveal its secret to a human, it cannot be a toy anymore. Marco knows the rules all along and now he has to face the consequence." the wise owl explained.

 

"No! Don't take Marco away! Help! Please help us!" Mario begs the toy owl.

 

"I'm sorry, Mario. We cannot do anything. Not even the king can do anything about it. It's the-" The toy owl turns back into a plush toy before finishing its sentence. Mario looks back to Marco and the undesired happened.

 

"NO! MARCO!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The toys in my mind are a bit silly. That's why they didn't notice Mario at first. They are also easily panic and influenced :D
> 
> Anyway, I hope this chapter makes sense :D


	5. Is It Just A Dream?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mario waking up from his dream and realises Marco isn't there anymore.

"NO! DON'T TAKE MARCO AWAY! PLEASE! NO!!!"

 

Mario opens his eyes widely and finds himself lying down on the living room floor. He also realizes he is back to his normal size. _Is the toy party just a dream?_  He thinks. He looks around the room and sees a number of toys from the toy shop laying on the floor. Bella the bear, Huhu the chimpanzee, Wonky the donkey, Leo the lion, the owl, Anna the doll, jack-in-the-box, the toy airplane, the carousel, the toy train... all the toys that he saw last night are here except Marco. The little boy gets up and tries to find his toy soldier. He searches the floor, the sofa, the shelves, but his toy soldier is nowhere to be found. He starts to become panic and cry.

 

"Marco! Marco!" he called. But there is no response. 

 

Opa Götze walks to the living room. He looks at the boy and asks, "Mario? Were you screaming just now?" 

 

Mario turns to his grandpa. He grabs his grandpa's arm. "Opa! Opa! Have you seen Marco?"

 

His grandpa looks at him with confusion so he asks, "Marco? Who's Marco?"

 

"Woody! My-" Mario breathes uneasily. The little boy tries to control his breath. He continues, "My toy soldier!"

 

Mario starts to brawl after finishing his sentence. His grandpa strokes his head. His mom walks to the living room and sees him crying. She quickly goes over and kneel down. The lady holds her son's face and says, "Honey, why are you crying? It's Christmas Day!" 

 

"Mommy, Mar-" he cried. "Marco-" he hiccuped and sniffed, "Marco is gone! My toy- toy soldier!"

 

"Aww... You misplace your toy? Don't worry, we'll search for it together, okay?" said Mrs. Götze. She strokes her son's back and wipes her son's tears. Mario nods to her and stops crying.

 

The young boy searches high and low within the house and toy shop with his family. They search all the corners and even underneath the furniture but still couldn't find the toy soldier. Mario starts to cry again. His mom quickly goes over to comfort him.

 

"Oh honey, I'm sure he's just playing hide and seek with you. He'll come out later," she pats her son's back to comfort the child. Mario is still crying heavily despite her mom's console. She continues, "Alright, I'll let you open one present now, okay? Pick one from the tree. Maybe you'll find something you like." 

 

Mario stops crying and looks at the tree. Maybe his parents have secretly wrapped Marco when he was sleeping. He goes over to the tree and takes one of the presents. The little boy quickly tears the present paper but to be disappointed by a box of chocolates. He cries again and rubs his eyes. Mrs. Götze hugs her son and comforts him.

 

Mr. Götze looks at the clock. It is already 9.47am. He signals his wife by tapping on his watch. After picking up the toys from the floor, the man goes to his son and says, "Mario, I'll ask grandpa to make a new toy for you, okay?"

 

"I don't want a new toy! I want Marco! I want Marco!" he shouted and stomped his feet. Tears start to flow from his eyes again. Mr. Götze sighs as he has no idea how to handle the situation anymore. Normally Mario would be excited about a new toy but this time, the trick didn't work. Mrs. Götze's heart wrenches when she sees her child sobbing. She hints Opa Götze to the kitchen for a small talk. 

 

"Papa, if we can't find it, just make the same one for him. He's just a kid. He wouldn't know the difference." she said.

 

Opa Götze takes a glance to his grandson. He lets out a sigh, shakes his head and replies, "I doubt that would work."

 

"Baby, we are going to be late!" Mr. Götze called from the living room.

 

"Coming!" she responded. The woman makes eye contact with her father to make a new toy soldier for Mario. She quickly grabs her handbag and kisses her son before leaving with her husband. Before she closes the door, she informs her father, "Papa, help us to take care of Mario while we're gone, okay?"

 

"Okay!" Opa Götze replied and he waves goodbye to his daughter. The toymaker prepares two cups of hot chocolate and goes over to his grandchild. He wipes the child's tears and asks, "Mario, tell me. Did you saw Marco last night?"

 

Mario sniffs and nods frantically. He stops crying and asks, "Opa, does that mean I never get to see Marco again?"

 

The toymaker glances to the row of wooden toy moose on the shelve. He lets out a huge breath and replies, "It depends. Did he let you see him?" 

 

"Yes. He took me to the toy party." the young boy said.

 

Opa Götze sighs. He strokes Mario's hair and continues, "Mario, toys aren't supposed to be seen by humans when they get up at night. If he's the one that chooses to reveal his secret I'm afraid-"

 

The conversation is interrupted by a doorbell sound. Mario's grandpa opens the door and sees Bastian and Lukas. The two boys came by to apologize to Mario. They keep bowing and pleading for forgiveness. Mario, of course, forgives them. His grandpa forgives them as well. But most of the time Mario is spaced out during their visit. Bastian and Lukas try to cheer Mario up by telling him some jokes, but Mario doesn't laugh at any of the jokes. The older boys even brought some cookies for the little boy, but it didn't make him feel better either. Bastian glances to the shelf and notices a familiar looking toy lion. He asks if he could have the toy lion and Opa Götze nods. The two older boys left the house after a few minutes. Opa Götze tries to encourage Mario to eat some pretzels as the little boy hasn't eaten anything since he woke up. But Mario is too depressed to eat anything, even his favourite food.

 

Around noon, there is a door opening sound and Mrs. Götze calls her son with a sweet voice. "Mario! Mario!"

 

Mario slowly drags himself with heavy footsteps to the living room. He could see his parents standing with a skinny, tall and handsome young boy. The boy wears a black cap and has dimples when he smiles. Mario's eyes widen and mouth hangs wide when he sees the boy. He rubs his eyes and see the boy again. He looks familiar.  

 

"Mario, meet Marco. From now on, Marco is going to be your new brother." his mom said with a smile.

 

The tall boy gives a lopsided smile to Mario. He takes off his cap, puts it on Mario and says,

 

"Moin."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoy the story and Merry Christmas!!! =)


	6. Cover Art

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I was taking a break from doing stuff that I suppose to do and I did a cover of this story :D

[ ](http://s1289.photobucket.com/user/Yvonne_Chia/media/Covers/cover%202_zpsnnirbt1f.jpg.html)

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time attempting a fantasy fic. I'm very nervous about this!
> 
> Playlist:  
> Nightingale - Demi Lovato
> 
> Thank you very much for reading this story. If you like it please give me a kudos. Please tell me anything in the comments and I will try my very best to improve. :) every kudos, comment, subscription and bookmark means the world to me. Thank you. :D
> 
> Yeah, you can follow me on [Tumblr](http://fearlesskiki.tumblr.com/) and [join the FBD Book Club!](https://footballblogsdirectory.tumblr.com/post/160746377878/welcome-to-the-fbd-book-club-this-is-a-place-to)


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